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The official blog for the U.S. Medicare program. For more information, please visit www.medicare.gov

Get Free Screenings to Help Fight Cancer

You can take control of your health with Medicare’s preventive benefits. Get free screenings to detect cancer early, when treatment works best. Preventing and stopping the progress of chronic diseases improves your health and quality of life. It also helps Medicare spend less on long-term illnesses that could have been prevented.

If you have Medicare, you can get the following screenings:

–Colorectal cancer screenings – four different screenings to detect colon and rectal cancers, each is covered as needed for all people age 50 and older

–Smoking cessation counseling – help quitting smoking, to help prevent lung, throat, and other cancers; covered for all people who use tobacco

Call your doctor’s office to set up your yearly preventive visit, where you can ask about any risk factors that may affect you, and schedule your preventive screenings. Your doctor can also help you keep track of when you should get screenings and which kinds are right for you.